The DIVVY 250 emergency water filtration station, designed in conjunction with Clearly Filtered and www.aquamira.com and manufactured in Logan, Utah, is one of the best water purification/filtration systems to come along for large group use in a long, long time. As SurvivalBlog readers know, from my previous articles on safe drinking water, my family and I are obsessed with having different methods available to provide us with affordable and safe drinking water, on a daily basis or in an emergency.
You can have all the guns, ammo, and food stored away for a SHTF scenario that you can afford. However, without a source of safe drinking water, you will die in a very short time. I know quite a few folks who are Preppers; for many, their main objective is to have a lot of guns and ammo, some food, and perhaps a little bit of bottled drinking water. They never once stopping to think that the bottled water will run out in short order, nor do they even consider that bottled water has an expiration date. Some bottled water expires in as little as six months. Plus, bottled water is expensive, to be sure!
I’ve seen gun owners, without giving it a thought, drop hundreds of dollars (sometimes thousands of dollars) on ammo, without blinking an eye. However, these same gun owners question investing in a simple water purification bottle that might cost as little as $25.00 – $30.00. When they are presented with a more expensive water filtering system that might set them back a couple of hundred bucks, they’ll head for the hills before they’ll open their wallets to buy one. Quite frankly, I just don’t understand this mentality. You WILL die inside of a few days without a source of clean and safe drinking water. I can’t state it differently. Still, there are people (some that I know personally), who just won’t let that sink in for some reason.
A close look at the DIVVY 250 is in order. This is a joint project between Clearly Filtered and Aquamira– two of the best names in water filtering/purification products. I’ve tested many of their products and found them to be just as advertised. The DIVVY 250 will produce 2,500 gallons of safe drinking water per day, but you need to obtain your water from a fresh water source, not from a septic tank, so let’s be clear on this. A pond, fresh water lake, stream, or other similar water supply is where you need to get your water from prior to treating it. What is sweet about the DIVVY 250 is that it requires NO electricity to operate, making it ideal for where (a Third World Country) or when (TEOTWAWKI) you have no electricity. Using it, you can filter up to 250 gallons of safe drinking water every hour. However, with added water holding containers, you can pump as much as 6,000 gallons of water per day.
The DIVVY 250 removes water-borne bacteria, particulates, Protozoa, Crypto, Giardia, E. Coli, Cholera, and Salmonella, plus bad tastes and odors, too. It meets EPA requirements for biological water purification, as well. The entire unit weighs about 177 pounds and can even be air-dropped into rural areas, for immediate use. Its setup takes about 20 minutes, and inside of 90 minutes you can be pumping safe drinking water. The process involves setting up the soft water storage container, connecting the pump and water lines, assembling the filter support and distribution pod, adding the pre-dosed calcium chloride, and waiting a short time. Then, you can start pumping safe drinking water from the four hose attachments, so that multiple people can fill their water containers simultaneously. The entire unit can be assembled by one person, too. I’ve seen the DIVVY 250 in operation, and it really is that simple to get it up and running.
Aquamira has a proven chlorine disinfection technology that is even used by the U.S. military, and their system works, and it works well. So, if the U.S. military has so much faith in the Aquarmira chlorine disinfection system, then I know it works.
The DIVVY 250 is designed for use by large groups of people, like a church group, a like-minded prepper group, small towns, and many other groups. Of course, the DIVVY 250 isn’t designed for use by a large city. Remember, you can pump and purify up to 2,500 gallons of water per day, and with added storage containers you can pump up to 6,000 gallons of purified water each day. Clearly, this won’t fill the needs of large cities with tens of thousands of people or millions of people. However, for small towns or large groups of people, this system will easily provide more than enough safe drinking water in an emergency.
I can see the DIVVY 250 being used in rural areas or in Third World countries, where there is no safe source of drinking water to start with. This system is being used at a rural Honduras clinic and the number of cases of residents suffering from water-borne diseases has all but disappeared, so long as the residents obtain their drinking water from the DIVVY 250. In earthquake ravaged areas, where the municipal water supply has been broken, the DIVVY 250 can be air dropped, and residents can pump safe drinking water from nearby streams, lakes, or even swimming pools. Multiple units can be used to service even larger groups, too.
The good news is that Clearly Filtered and Aquamira have the DIVVY in-stock and ready to ship just about any place in the world inside of a few days. Now, this type of system doesn’t come cheap, as you can imagine. Full-retail for the DIVVY 250 is $9,995.00. Yes, you read that right; it’s almost ten grand. However, when you stop to think about the life-saving qualities of such a unit, it really isn’t all that expensive. If you have a church group, the congregation could all pitch in and get one. Not only could they save the lives of church members, they could help the community in general, keeping in mind the gallons of water each unit can put out each day. A rural fire department could have a DIVVY 250 on-hand, so that when a natural disaster strikes they can set the unit up and provide survivors with safe drinking water. As mentioned before, a survival group or prepper group could combine their money to purchase a unit. The possibilities are there, if you’ll stop and think about the usefulness of such a water filtering system.
If I were in better financial circumstances, I would without a doubt purchase a DIVVY 250 for my family to have and then never have to worry about having a safe source of drinking water again. Sadly, we can’t afford such a unit. However, we do have other water filtration products from Clearly Filtered and Aquamira that we use daily for our safe drinking water.
I’m sure many SurvivalBlog readers have different types of water filtering/purification systems on hand. Most units are designed for use by one person or a couple of people and can only provide a limited, often very limited, amount of safe drinking water each day. What if there is a major disaster and you have extended family that comes to you for help? Sure, you might have extra food for them, but do you have a source of safe drinking water that you can provide them? There are a lot of things to consider BEFORE a major disaster strikes, and most people just don’t give any thought to having a source of safe drinking water. Look, a trunk load of bottled water will only last you a few days for your family. Then what? If you have a fresh water source, such as a stream, creek, or lake nearby, you can have all the safe drinking water you’ll need, if you have the DIVVY 250. It would be a great blessing to you, your extended family, neighbors, and your small community to have a way of providing them with fresh and safe drinking water during a disaster.
For more information, be sure to check out the Aquamira and Clearly Filtered websites. If you have the means of purchasing one, do so, before a disaster! – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio